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DNS delegation architectures for multi-forest environments

September 5, 2025
Architecture • DNS • Active Directory If you run more than one Active Directory forest, DNS is the fabric that lets users, apps, and domain controllers in one forest reliably find resources in another. The right DNS delegation architecture makes cross-forest name resolution fast, secure, and predictable—even in hybrid cloud. Guide + Comparison Updated: 5 Sep 2025 Reading time: ~16–18…
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FSMO placement strategies for hybrid and cloud scenarios

September 5, 2025
Active Directory • Hybrid architecture In hybrid identity, where some domain controllers live on‑premises and others in Azure, where you place AD’s five operations‑master roles decides authentication speed, change safety, and your failure blast radius. Quick definition: FSMO placement strategies for hybrid and cloud scenarios are the rules and patterns for hosting the Schema, Domain…
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Active Directory Fundamentals

Active Directory 25-year evolution: what changed, what stayed true, and what comes next

September 5, 2025
Comparative guide AD modernization Hybrid identity Zero trust Kerberos Forest recovery Classic AD → Modernized AD → Hybrid future From castle-and-moat to zero trust and hybrid identity: the AD journey. Quick jump: definition · core mechanisms · classic vs modernized · modernization runbook · implications · mental models · misunderstandings & fixes · forward look · field…
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Active Directory Fundamentals

Virtualized AD DS time sync: VMIC vs AD — Definitive somparison

September 5, 2025
Time is the quiet dependency that keeps Active Directory honest. Kerberos tickets rely on it. Replication relies on it. Auditing and security controls rely on it. Virtualization adds the hypervisor’s clock to the mix, creating a strategic choice: should virtualized domain controllers follow the hypervisor (VMIC/VM tools), or the Active Directory hierarchy? Definition: Virtualized AD DS time…
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Virtualized AD DS Time Sync: A hands-on implementation playbook (VMIC vs AD)

September 5, 2025
If you run domain controllers as VMs, time is a design decision—not a default. This Virtualized AD DS time sync playbook gives you a clean, production-ready path to make the AD hierarchy your single authority, avoid conflicts with VMIC/VM Tools, and automate a safe boot/restore hand-off. Active Directory/Virtualization/Time Sync On this page Definition Goals & Guardrails Implementation…
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Active Directory Fundamentals

What’s new in Active Directory (2025): Availability, supportability & security enhancements

September 5, 2025
Active Directory 2025 security, availability, and supportability are now the defining pillars of enterprise identity resilience. Sneak-peek Here we talk about the latest changes that improve three pillars—availability (staying online), supportability (seeing and fixing issues fast), and security (withstanding and recovering from attacks). Together they reshape how you design, operate, and…
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Active Directory FundamentalsRecent Posts

What is an N-Day Exploit? Definition, Mechanism & Security Risks

September 3, 2025
An n-day exploit targets a vulnerability after public disclosure, weaponizing the delay between a vendor’s fix and enterprise patch adoption. Definition (snippet-friendly): An n-day exploit is a cyberattack that targets a known software vulnerability after it has been publicly disclosed. Attackers leverage the period when patches or mitigations exist but are not yet widely applied. Table of…
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Active Directory Fundamentals

Monitoring lateral movement paths in AD

August 29, 2025
Monitoring Lateral Movement Paths in Active Directory Lateral movement is what happens after an attacker (or rogue insider) gets an initial foothold: they pivot from one machine/account to another until they reach high-value targets like file servers, application tiers, and ultimately Domain Admin or Tier-0 assets. In Active Directory (AD), lateral movement succeeds not…
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Active Directory Fundamentals

Using canary tokens in AD to detect breaches

August 29, 2025
Canary tokens are deliberate “tripwires”: objects, credentials, or breadcrumbs that should never be touched in normal operations. When an attacker (or an automated tool) interacts with them, you get a high-signal alert that something is wrong—often early, before full domain compromise. This guide focuses on practical canary patterns that work well in Active Directory…
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Active Directory Fundamentals

Tracking use of default domain admin credentials

August 29, 2025
Tracking Use of Default Domain Admin Credentials (Built-in Administrator & Domain Admins) “Default Domain Admin credentials” usually means the built-in domain Administrator account (the well-known account with SID ending in -500) and/or “obvious” privileged identities (members of Domain Admins) that attackers love to target because they’re…
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